"What ticket?" Lu Ming asked.
Shao Hongmei's lips had already begun to turn pale. She swallowed and continued, "My right upper pocket, feel it."
Lu Ming reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. It clearly and precisely listed the specific information of ten children, including Chen Xian!
Shao Hongmei said, "These ten children are ten tickets. Only when these ten children are delivered will the snakehead personally verify them; at other times, his subordinates will check the goods. So if you want to find the snakehead and know where your child went from him, you must have a ticket. Otherwise, you won't see the snakehead."
Lu Ming examined it carefully.
These ten children were all 'excellent children' who could score 90 points, promising young talents who could be sold to wealthy families.
No wonder the snakehead valued them.
At this moment, Shao Hongmei was on the verge of death, blood pooling all over the ground.
She pleaded, "I've told you everything I know, I didn't even say this much in the interrogation room. Are you satisfied now? Help me stop the bleeding and let me go."
Heh.
Lu Ming pocketed the slip and coldly retorted, "Did I ever say I would let you go?"
Huh?
Shao Hongmei shivered. "You, you can't do this! I've told you everything, what else do you want? You can't be so untrustworthy, let me go, let me go!"
Lu Ming ignored her, flicked his sleeve, and walked straight out of the courtyard.
Behind him, Shao Hongmei's hysterical curses could be heard.
Initially loud.
Slowly, the voice grew softer and weaker until it stopped; only the blood continued to flow.
He got into the car.
Lu Ming called Long Wang, "Bring some people to Yaoxi Village to handle the aftermath. There are too many human traffickers in Yaoxi Village, don't let any of them go, arrest them all!"
…
Returning to the villa.
As soon as Lu Ming entered the house, Chen Yingong rushed over anxiously, "Xian'er? Did you not find Xian'er?"
Lu Ming patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, sit down and I'll explain. The bad news is that Xian'er has been transferred and is in the snakehead's hands. The good news is that Xian'er is not in immediate danger."
Then, he explained the general situation to Chen Yingong.
After listening, Chen Yingong immediately said, "Then let's go to the library in the West District now and rescue Xian'er!"
"No," Lu Ming analyzed, "We don't have a ticket, so we can't see the snakehead."
Chen Yingong said, "With Mr. Lu's strength, can't we just force our way in?"
Lu Ming said, "If our only goal were to eliminate the snakehead, then forcing our way in would be fine. But our goal has never been the snakehead, it's to rescue Xian'er. Now that Xian'er is in the snakehead's hands, a direct assault could easily lead to her death."
Chen Yingong calmed down after hearing this.
It was true.
If they stormed in, they would either alert the snakehead and let him escape, or the snakehead would fight to the death and kill Xian'er!
Neither outcome was what they wanted.
Now, they had to devise a plan to successfully meet the snakehead. As long as they could meet him, Lu Ming would have a way to subdue him.
At this moment.
Long Wang returned.
He said, "All those people from Yaoxi Village have been arrested. I handed them over to Liang Jiadong. Good heavens, ninety-nine percent of the child disappearances in the city are related to these scoundrels!"
Lu Ming frowned slightly.
Yaoxi Village was taken down in one fell swoop, and the entire downstream industry was wiped out. The snakehead, being at the top, would definitely become more cautious, making it even harder to meet him.
Long Wang said, "I think we should take a gamble now. Use one child as bait, successfully meet the snakehead, and then capture him in one go!"
The method sounded unreliable.
Using someone else's child as bait, would they agree? What if it failed?
Long Wang continued, "My team has a group of young soldiers, children rescued from battlefields in various war zones, all well-trained. I will select a suitable one from them, and the makeup artist will dress him up to look like the child on the list. It will be difficult to tell the difference!"
This method sounded much more reliable.
Lu Ming nodded, "Do as you say, go ahead."
"Alright!" Long Wang immediately went to select a child from his young soldiers suitable for the mission.
In the hall.
Lu Ming was still looking at the ten children on the list, lost in thought.
He felt… a bit strange.
Chen Yingong asked, "Mr. Lu, you seem to be frowning. Have you thought of something?"
Lu Ming pointed to the list, "I just find this list a bit strange, but I can't quite pinpoint why."
Chen Yingong looked at it and said, "Could it be... that our Xian'er doesn't belong with these children?"
Hmm?
Right!
One sentence enlightened him.
Lu Ming realized that the other nine children were all from affluent families whose parents often posted photos of them online; but Chen Xian was different. She appeared simple and unadorned, a quiet child who usually kept to herself and wasn't often shown off.
Logically, Chen Xian wouldn't be easily targeted.
Unless someone deliberately gave Chen Xian's data to the snakehead, making him notice her!
Who was this 'someone'?
…
In a regular official office building in Modu.
Jia Zheng's phone received a text message: The child has been verified, very satisfied. Thank you, Mr. Jia, for providing the data.
Immediately after, 100,000 yuan appeared in Jia Zheng's bank account.
Jia Zheng leaned back in his chair contentedly, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, muttering to himself, "This snakehead's efficiency is quite high. I only gave him the data yesterday, and he abducted the child today. Not bad. Lu Ming, Lu Ming, I'll let you taste what it's like to lose a child too!"
He could get revenge and make money at the same time – killing two birds with one stone.
Jia Zheng was so happy he wanted to dance.
However, when he saw the latest news updated on his computer screen, the smile on his face immediately vanished.
[Modu Police Bust Large-Scale Child Trafficking Ring]
Jia Zheng read through it carefully and instantly understood, murmuring to himself, "Chen Xian was just abducted, and Yaoxi Village was taken down? What a coincidence?"
His intuition told him that Lu Ming was likely behind this!
Since Lu Ming had the ability to take down the entire Yaoxi Village at once, it meant Lu Ming also had the ability to take down the snakehead.
Wouldn't that be a complete waste of effort?
"No!"
Jia Zheng immediately became extremely vigilant. This time, no matter what, he would not lose to Lu Ming again.
He immediately sent an email to the snakehead.
However, this time, Jia Zheng wasn't sending child information, but Lu Ming's information! It detailed Lu Ming's height, weight, position, and so on, and included nearly 30 photos of Lu Ming.
Jia Zheng solemnly warned the snakehead: Lu Ming is insidious and cunning, be extremely wary!